Pennsylvania Canal (Delaware Division)

The Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal runs from the Lehigh River at Easton, Pennsylvania to Bristol, Pennsylvania. It runs parallel to the Delaware River generally within sight of the river.

The canal was build to carry coal, limestone, cement, and lumber from the northeastern reaches of Pennsylvania to Philadelphia

The canal was built in the middle decades of the 19th century and ran its last commercial traffic in the 1930's. Mule-drawn barges provide rides for tourists and chartered private parties running from the locks at New Hope, Pennsylvania to a point about a mile and a half above Centre Bridge since the late 1950's.

The Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal and its towpath became the Theodore Roosevelt State Park in the early 1950's when the berms were restored and the canal was refilled with water. The park was renamed the Delaware Canal State Park in 1989.

Portions of the Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal towpath were washed away or damaged during the flooding events that have affected the Delaware Valley since 2004. A number of sections of the towpath remain closed and impassable, including a long stretch north of Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania and sections south of Riegelsville, Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) has plans to refurbish the washed out sections of the canal in the Spring of 2008.

See also

• Lehigh Canal - A sister canal in the Lehigh Valley that fed coal traffic to the Delaware Canal.
• Delaware and Raritan Canal - A canal connection to the New York market across the Delaware River.

External links

• Delware Canal Photos
• PADEP Delware Canal State Park
• Canal History